Second Debt-for-Nature Swap between United States and (“TFCA II”) Congressional Report 2015

1 1. MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS 3

2. GRANT MAKING ACTIVITIES 5

3. PROJECT IMPACTS 8

4. LEVERAGING TFCA RESOURCES 10

5. SUMMARY TABLE 12

6. MAP OF PROTECTED AREAS WHERE THE TFCA II IMPLEMENTED PROJECTS_ _ 13

2 1. Major achievements

This report summarizes the main achievements of the Second Debt-for-Nature Swap between Costa Rica and the United States (based on the U.S. Tropical Forest Conservation Act and so known as “TFCA II”) during 2015. The Forever Costa Rica Association is the Administrator of this initiative, while an Oversight Committee comprised of representatives of the U.S. and Costa Rican Governments as well as select environmental non-governmental organizations, provides overall direction and approves disbursements to grantees to implement the Debt Swap/TFCA II.

The highlights of 2015 include progress on the implementation of projects funded as a result of the first four Requests for Applications (RFA) issued by the TFCA II initiative. Since the beginning of the TFCA II in 2012, 40 projects have been awarded for a total of nearly US$2,534,000.

The fifth and sixth RFA were prepared in 2015, for a total amount of US$2,410,000. In both cases, submitted proposals focus on climate change, effective management and/or ecological representativeness.

Moreover, during 2015, 3 more non-governmental organizations applied and were accepted as Eligible Entities, bringing to 32 the number of local and regional organizations registered to implement TFCA II projects.

The Oversight Committee held a fieldtrip to the highlands of Talamanca Mountain Range, specifically to Los Quetzales National Park and Río Macho Forest Reserve (Figure 1). In both sites the TFCA II is currently implementing multiple projects and is expected to allocate further funds in the near future. The Oversight Committee met with park rangers and staff of both Protected Areas, and learned about the challenges they face and the advancements they have achieved in the TFCA II-financed projects.

Among the achievements of the Strategic Plan 2011-2016 of the TFCA II during 2015, it is important to mention the following two:

1.2.1 Initiative: "Developing strategies for protected areas to climate change adaptation". The TFCA II along with the Irrevocable Trust Forever Costa Rica have financed a total of 25 General Management Plans for protected areas, which include strategic guidelines to deal with climate change, and expected to be implemented with recurring investment to increase the effective management of terrestrial protected areas.

3 2.2.2 Initiative: "Continuous training in the application of the technical tools to monitor the management effectiveness of protected areas, and the indicators of ecological integrity." Over 80 terrestrial protected areas have fulfilled the former tool, which was updated in late 2014, and for which there have been several shared training workshops with the BIOMARCC Project (which is implemented by the German Society for International Cooperation-GIZ). Additionally, with TFCA II funds, SINAC started for the first time the implementation of a monitoring program of ecological integrity indicators in 33 terrestrial protected areas, in July 2015.

Also, the TFCA II has successfully reached cooperation initiatives with multiple entities, further enhancing the impacts of its mandate for a total of US$904,500 in resources leveraged.

Figure 1. Oversight Committee fieldtrip to TFCA II priority sites

4 2. Grant making activities

In 2015 the Administrator launched the fifth and sixth call for registration of Eligible Entities of the TFCA II, incorporating 3 new organizations. As of December 31, 2015, a total of 32 Eligible Entities are qualified to implement projects related to the goals of the TFCA II including both its geographic intervention areas and thematic priorities.

For all these Eligible Entities, in May 2015 the TFCA II launched and managed the fifth RFA, for a total of approximately US$1,370,000 of funds allocated to 14 different projects to accomplish its thematic priorities (ecological representativeness, effective management of protected areas, and climate change response).

Additionally, the second semester of 2015 saw the preparation of the sixth RFA, with submissions in November for 18 projects totaling approximately US$1,040,000. The development of the Terms of Reference (TOR) for these projects was cooperatively done with the managers and technical staff of 33 protected areas throughout the geographic intervention zones of the TFCA II (Figure 2). Currently, the Administrator is assessing all the proposals submitted to begin the projects in early 2016.

Figure 2. Field visits to Protected Areas for the development of the TOR of the fifth and sixth RFA

5 Since the opening of the first RFA in 2012, the TFCA II has awarded US$2,534,000 to sixteen Eligible Entities to undertake a total of 40 different conservation projects (Table 1).

In the first semester of 2015 the Forever Costa Rica Association worked with a group of international professionals with extensive experience in organizational strengthening and management in Latin America to design and implement a Training and Capacity-building Program to Eligible Entities.

Primarily, the experts developed a Manual for Training the Trainers on relevant topics such as fundraising, management and budget execution, and formulation and evaluation of projects. Subsequently, they trained the Forever Costa Rica Association staff on these issues. Finally, June 2015 saw the implementation of a training workshop for 15 Eligible Entities selected by the TFCA II Oversight Committee and SINAC staff (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Participants of the Training Workshop for TFCA II Eligible Entities

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Table 1. TFCA II projects under implementation

Project name Eligible Entity Budget Management Plan (MP) for Cerros de Escazú Protected Zone Fundación Neotrópica ₡ 29,356,217.55

MP for Miravalles Protected Area FUNDAUNA-CEMEDE ₡ 17,413,000.00 Studies to address the Río Bongo-Arío site CATIE ₡ 15,060,300.00

Studies to address the Embalse Arenal site CATIE ₡ 50,071,450.00

Studies to address the Río Parismina site CATIE ₡ 15,060,300.00 Strategy to prevent conflicts in Protected Areas CEDARENA ₡ 17,720,000.00

MP for Maquenque Wildlife Refuge Fundación Neotrópica ₡ 20,794,836.00 Studies to address the Térraba-Sierpe site Fundación Neotrópica ₡ 15,059,682.80

MP for Arenal-Monteverde Protected Zone Instituto Monteverde ₡ 12,746,272.00

MP for Tivives Protected Zone Fundación Neotrópica ₡ 12,750,000.00 Development of a plan on land tenure and a plan for physical signals at FUNDECONGO ₡ 30,740,000.00 Iguanita Wildlife Refuge and Nicolás Wessberg Biological Reserve MP for Río Macho Forest Reserve Fundación Corcovado ₡ 12,550,250.00 Protocol for developing Control and Protection Plans in Protected Areas, and FUNDECOR ₡ 217,768,546.56 implementation at multiple protected areas Establishment of a land tenure program at Juan Castro Blanco National Park FUNDACA ₡ 17,667,020.00 Development of a land tenure program at Volcán Irazú National Park and FUNDECOR ₡ 63,030,368.66 Volcán Turrialba National Park Update of the Management Plan for Barbilla National Park Fundación Corcovado ₡ 13,780,000.00 Design of a regional plan for the integrated fire management in the ASVO ₡ 17,667,020.00 Protected Areas of the Amistad Pacífico Conservation Area Design of a regional plan for sustainable tourism in the Protected Areas of Fundación Corcovado ₡ 17,666,490.00 the Amistad Pacífico Conservation Area Design and implementation of a plan for the ecological intervention and FUNDAUNA-ICOMVIS ₡ 30,739,941.61 ecosystem recovery at and La Cangreja National Park Development of a plan for the ecological intervention of the wetlands of the FUNDACA ₡ 45,050,000.00 Río Tempisque watershed Consolidation of the plan for sustainbale tourism at Cipancí Wildlife Refuge ACEPESA ₡ 6,319,218.41

Update of the National Biodiversity Strategy Fundación de Parques ₡ 34,733,820.00 Development of ecological integrity indicators and monitoring protocols for CATIE ₡ 210,592,000.00 local terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems Strategy to control and prevent poaching of wild peccaries at Golfo Dulce Osa Conservation ₡ 21,200,000.00 Foreste Reserve Studies to address three important sites for conservation: Acuíferos de CATIE ₡ 77,083,830.00 Pococí, Río Naranjo-Savegre, and Sistema Acuático Caño Negro TOTAL BUDGET IN COLONES ₡ 1,022,620,563.59 APPROXIMATE BUDGET IN DOLLARS $ 1,929,472.76

7 3. Project impacts

A) The Cerros de Escazú Protected Zone (ZPCE) - established in 1976 - is a natural ecosystem of high diversity of flora, fauna, and cultural heritage that spans six counties of various stages of development, with a total area of 7,175 hectares, mostly private land. Its forests help to stabilize the soil in areas with steep slopes and serve as water recharge sites in the region, becoming a very strategic zone within the greater metropolitan area of Costa Rica.

Since 2010, the local governments have not issued permits for new economic activities in the ZPCE. Therefore, there has been great interest and expectation regarding the development of its Management Plan. Multiple actors maintain different uses of resources and/or generate pressure on the area, of which 42% approximately belongs to the organized community sector. The vast majority has been part of the construction process of this plan, through organized groups or legitimate representatives.

It is important to highlight several goals achieved in this project: 1. Consolidating the management tools for the protected area; 2. Multiple land uses resulting in a unanimous zoning proposal; 3. Establishment of a planned real estate development model that incorporates sustainable architecture techniques within the ZPCE; and 4. Strengthening of the Local Council as a permanent body for citizen participation in the management of the ZPCE.

B) The Cerro Vueltas Biological Reserve is a protected area located in the highlands of Costa Rica under the administration of the Central Pacific Conservation Area (ACOPAC). Despite its ecological importance for the generation of essential goods and services to the surrounding communities (aquifer recharge area), and containing highly vulnerable ecosystems to climate change (natural moorland), it has lacked a management plan since its establishment.

Through an active and participatory process the resident communities and relevant local actors (Figure 4) identified multiple threats to the protected area: wildlife loss, illegal poaching, waste and pollution, deforestation, habitat alteration, and resource extraction (mainly moss). To tackle these challenges, the Management Plan recommends four main areas of action to be implemented: 1) control and protection, 2) administrative management, 3) research, and 4) education and environmental awareness.

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Figure 4. Participatory local workshops for the construction of Cerro Vueltas Biological Reserve management plan.

C) Through the National Strategy for Biodiversity Research and Cultural Resources, and the National Research Strategy 2014-2024 (whose funding was provided by the TFCA II), SINAC has strived to solve the problems that have existed in research management within its institutional framework.

The Methodological Guide for Specific Research Plans is the first guide of its kind intended to be implemented in Costa Rica, for there are no similar instruments that seek to homogenize the criteria to manage investigations in all the Conservation Areas and the protected areas of the country. It is designed to guide research managers and decision-makers at different levels of SINAC, but its procedures include the researchers themselves - internal or external - and professional research centers as well.

D) Both SINAC as the responsible agency and the protected areas in particular, face diverse challenges related to natural resource management, which result in the need to have an instrument that allows for the standardization of the institutional procedures followed. The Methodological Guide for Specific Plans of Resource Management is intended to fill that gap, especially with the development of the specific technical plans generated with its inputs.

These plans should establish when, how much, why, who, and how can protected areas perform resource management within their borders and in their surroundings, taking into account the institutional policies and mechanisms for the evaluation of the given success.

9 4. Leveraging TFCA resources

The Forever Costa Rica Program is a national strategy set forth by the government of Costa Rica in alliance with multiple partners (Forever Costa Rica Association, TFCA II, UNDP-CAMP-GEF, and BIOMARCC Project) to meet the country’s conservation goals set forth by the Convention on Biological Diversity. In 2014-2015, the BIOMARCC Project and UNDP-CAMP-GEF invested US$350,000 and US$210,000, respectively.

The Forever Costa Rica Program Cooperation Committee, which is composed of representatives of SINAC and the Forever Costa Rica Association, fulfilled in 2015 a series of initiatives for the Program’s proper funding, coordination, implementation and monitoring process, totaling approximately US$20,000 that leveraged the TFCA II funds: a) Presentation of the results achieved by the Program in 2014-2015 with staff of all Conservation Areas. Altogether these outreach workshops included over 60 participants. b) Independent evaluation of the progress made in implementing the national conservation goals for protected areas. c) Update of the national conservation goals for protected areas (2016-2020) based on the Convention on Biological Diversity through a working session including government authorities and technical and scientific experts. d) Definition of the Program’s Implementation Plan 2016-2020 with the involvement of 50 SINAC officials and representatives.

The Forever Costa Rica Association and the Arenal Tempisque Conservation Area jointly implemented the 2014-2015 annual work plan for the ecological intervention of Laguna Palo Verde, which is part of a Comprehensive Intervention Plan including all the wetlands at . The Comprehensive Plan strives to intervene 3,150 hectares of wetlands between 2013 and 2018; as of 2015, 216 hectares have been covered, equivalent to 72% of the target set for the five year period.

Of the remaining 2850 hectares, SINAC has already completed more than 1300 hectares. This intervention is a systematic application of different techniques to control invasive plant species such as tifa (Thypha domingensis) and palo verde (Parkinsonia aculeata). The total funds invested in 2015 reached approximately US$86,000.

10 In 2015 the Forever Costa Rica Association coordinated the donation of two motorcycles on behalf of the Amistad Caribe Conservation Area, specifically for the Barbilla National Park and Hitoy Cerere Biological Reserve. These two vehicles (Figure 5), donated by the Costa Rican Bank Association, will greatly enhance the daily operation of the rangers and efficiently manage the efforts to protect and conserve the ecosystems sheltered in these important natural sites. The estimated value of each motorcycle is US$3,000.

Also in 2015 the Ministry of Environment and Energy officially presented the 2015- 2015 Strategy and Action Plan for Adaptation of the Biodiversity of Costa Rica to climate change, which was facilitated by the Inter-American Development Bank. This integrative strategy identifies the main actions and activities that Costa Rica must advance in the next ten years to increase resilience and create conditions for adaptation to biodiversity. For the portfolio of projects to be implemented, the Forever Costa Rica Association seeks to invest at least US$300,000 TFCA II funds in the next five years in its priority intervention areas.

Figure 5. Representatives of Forever Costa Rica Association upon the official donation of the two motorcycles to SINAC

Finally, two projects financed by the TFCA II obtained counterpart funds from other allied institutions. The project “Update of the National Biodiversity Strategy”, has leveraged UNDP funds for a total of US$62,500; in the case of the project “Strategy to control and prevent poaching of wild peccaries at Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve”, additional funds from the TFCA I and the National University total US$170,000 approximately.

11 5. Summary Table

Fund Data 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 TOTAL No. of proposals submitted n/a 26 22 20 24 92 No. of proposals approved n/a 11 10 11 16 48 Total approved funding for grants n/a $687K $350K $1,596K $2,410K $5,043K Total disbursed funding for grants n/a $76K $165K $212K $594K $1,047K Total of counterpart match (grantee cost-share) n/a $94K $16K $0 $0 $110K Other leveraged matches (e.g. co-financing) n/a $1720K $710K $648K $904K $3,982K Totalfinancing) matching funds as % of approved grants n/a 14% 5% 0% 0% 4% Amount approved spent grants on management costs $154K $176K $250K $280K $350 $1,210K Investment Income n/a $194K $1,086K $358K $32K $1,670K Fund balance at the end of the year $8,904K $12,802K $15,959K $16,318K $16,049K n/a

12 6. Map of protected areas where the TFCA II implemented projects in 2015

Costa Rica

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